PITTSBURGH – Blair Landolfi scored 13 of her team-high 15 points in the second half as Rochester rallied to defeat Carnegie Mellon University, 68-63, in a women's basketball game at Skibo Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.
Four of the five starters scored 10 or more. Danielle McNabb scored 14. Loren Wagner had 12 points and 18 rebounds, her eighth straight double-double and 13th of the season. Ally Zywicki scored 12 points and handed out four assists. Kelsey Hurley scored seven points.
Gabrielle West was the only double figure scorer for CMU. She had 13 points, including a pair of treys. Lisa Otto scored nine points. Lisa Murphy, saddled with foul trouble for much of the second half, scored seven points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and handed out five assists. Lindsay Poss had six points and 10 rebounds. Jacquie Shaw scored nine points.
Rochester improved to 9-13 overall, 3-8 in the University Athletic Association. Carnegie Mellon is 11-11 overall, 3-9 in the UAA. The Tartans defeated Rochester, 71-70, in the Palestra four weeks ago.
The Yellowjackets fought back from a 14-point second half deficit (42-28 CMU two and a half minutes into the restart). Rochester used a 13-2 run over four minutes to pull within 44-41 with 13:30 to play. Zywicki had five points in the spurt – a conventional three-point play, then a runner in the lane. A 10-footer left of the lane from Katie Weiner and a layup by Wagner closed the burst.
Poss restored a five-point lead before Landolfi hit the first of two treys in the second half. McNabb's three from the right corner made it a one point game and Weiner tied it at 49-all on a layup.
Another three from Landolfi, this one from right wing in front of her own bench, tied the score at 52-52 with 7:33 to go. That started a mini-scoring run for her, 7-2 in two minutes with her jumper just inside the circle giving Rochester its first lead since late in the first half, 56-55. She knotted the score again, this time at 57-57 by making the second of two free throws with 4:52 left.
Carnegie's last lead came on Otto's spin in the lane for a 59-57 edge with 3:36 left. Hurley drained a 3-pointer from right wing and McNabb converted both ends of a one-and-one to push it to 62-59 under three minutes.
The Tartans pulled within one point twice – 62-61 on a Poss 12 footer in the lane with 2:35 left and 64-63 when Otto connected on a 15-footer on left wing with just under a minute to play. It turned out to be CMU's final point of the afternoon.
Hurley drove for a layup (66-63 with 45 seconds left). The Yellowjackets could have nailed it down, but sank only two of six free throw attempts. Weiner made a decisive defensive play in the last 30 seconds. After Zywicki missed two free throws, the Tartans ran the ball down the floor. Weiner planted in the lane and took a charge by Jennifer Elkin with 26.4 left. CMU fouled before the ball could be inbounded. Wagner made the back end of two for a four-point edge.
Carnegie missed two three pointers on the next rush down the floor and had a chance for a third but the rebound was bobbled, and tapped to Zywicki who sank one shot with 4.9 seconds left.
In the first half, the Yellowjackets led by four three times, the last at 13-9 on a Landolfi jumper. Two free throws by Wagner put Rochester ahead, 19-18, with 8:08 left.
West made two 3-pointers and a conventional three-point play to key a 17-7 spurt that gave Carnegie a 35-26 lead at the half.